Railway-traffic-controlling apparatus



Dec. 18, 1928.

16. w. BAUGHMAN "RAILWAY TRAFFIC CONTROLLING APPARATUS Original FiledJuly 29, 1926 w WM Patented Dec. 18,1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT: IoFFIcE.

GEORGE W. BAUGHMAN, OF EDGEWOOD BOROUGH, vIE'ENNSYL VAN IA, ASSIGNOR TOTHE UNION. SWITCH 8c SIGNAL COMPANY, OF SWISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A 003-PORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-TRAFFIC-CONTROLLIN G APPARATUS.

Application filed 111137 29, 1926, Serial No 125,675. Renewed May 15,1928.-

My invention relatesto railway trafiic controlling apparatus, andparticularly to apparatus in which train carried governing means iscontrolled by energy received from the trackway. V

One object of my invention is to sup liy current to the track railsinterrupted at ferent frequencies depending upontraflic conditions, andto provide train carried apparatus which is selectively responsive tothe different frequencies of interruption.

I will describe two forms of apparatus embodying my invention, and willthen point I acters land 1 designate the track rails of a stretch ofrailway track'over which traflic normally moves in the directionindicated by the arrow. The section of track AB here V shown, isinsulated from the remainder of the track by means of insulated joints2. Track circuit current is supplied to the section through a tracktransformer T having its secondary 3 connected to the track rails nearover line wires 7 and 7. A plurality of interrupter discs 8, 9 and 10are. mechanically and electrically connected by means of a shaft 16. Theshaft 16is connected with the rotor of motor C, so that when this motoris rotating the discs 8, 9 and 10 'are also rotated. Referringparticularly to interrupter disc 8, this disc comprises a centralmetallic conducting portion having a plurality of inse'rts (here shownas five) 14 of insulating material in the periphery thereof. Aconducting brush 8 is held against the surface of this disc so that, asthe disc rotates the circuit through the disc is periodicallyinterrupted. The remaining discs 9 and 10 are constructed similarlyexcept that disc 9 has ten inserts and disc 10 has fifteen inserts. Thenumber of inserts is not material, and any desired number may be chosen.

The selector X comprises a movable contact arm 15 arranged toselectively engage a plurality of fixed contact members, one for eachinterrupter disc. Contact 8 is connected with brush 8, contact 9 withbrush 9 and contact 10 with brush 10 The movable contact arm-15 ofselector X may be operated in any desired manner as by trafficconditionsin advance, or manually.

As shown in the drawing the arm '15 of selector X engages contact 9",and a circuit is closed from the secondary 6 of transformer W, throughwire 11, shaft-16, interrupter disc 9, brush 9, contact 9", arm 15 ofselector X, primary 4 of track transformer T, and wire 13 back tosecondary 6 of transformer W. Since the interrupter device I operatescontinuously, the circuit for primary 4 of transformer T isintermittently opened and closed as the brush 9 makes contact with aninsulating or a conducting segment. of disc 9. When the arm 15 ofselector X is moved to other positions, the circuit is the same exceptthat other interrupter discs are substituted for disc 8 depending uponwhich contact is engaged by arm 15.

One form of train carried apparatus for governing traflic in response tothe impulses supplied to the trackway is shown in Fig. 2. Mountedtransversely with respect to the track rails 1 and I at some convenientpoint on the vehicle, as in front of the forward. axle- 17 of thevehicle V, as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1, are two magnetizablecores P and P. Core P is provided with a winding 18, and core I isprovided with a similar winding 18. The two windings, which I shallrefer to as the receiver'coil, are so a connected that the electromotiveforces inducedthereln by currents flowing in opposite directions in thetwo track rails at a given instantare additive. The terminals 19 andtional current and has a front contact 23 and a back contact 24 forcontrolling the primary 26 of a transformer Z.

The primary 26 of transformer Z is energized from a battery 25 whenrelay R closes either its front or back contact, and its secondary 27 isconnected in circuit with two alternating current relays E and F. Whenrelay R is suppliedwith impulses of direct current, the pulsations ofdirect current in primary 26 of the transformer Z induce in thesecondary 27 of transformer Z an alternating current of twice thefrequency of the impulses of direct current supplied to the rela R.

The relay F is frequency selective and has three positions. rent of ahigher frequency than that to which it is balanced it closes contact 28,and when supplied with current of a lower frequency than that to whichit is balanced it closes contact 30, but when de-energized or suppliedwith current of the frequency to which it is balanced, it closes contact29. One form of relay which will operate in this manner is shown anddescribed in Letters Patent of the United States granted to P. H. Thomason Aug. 1, 1916, No. 1,193,083. The contacts 28, 29 and 30 control anysuitable form of governin means here shown as lamps H, L and M. he relayE is not frequency. selective and when energized it closes contact 32but when de-energized it closes contact 31. Con tact 31 controls a lamS, and contact 32 cooperates with relay so that none of the lampscontrolled by relay F can be energized unless the contact 32.0f relay Eis closed. The lamps H, L, M and S receive their energy from a battery,33, and the circuits for these lamps will be obvious from the drawing.

,I n explaining the operation of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2, Iwill assume that arm 15 of selector X makes contact at 9", as shown inthe drawing, and that motor C is being driven at such speed that thecurrent supplied to the primary 4 of track transformer T is interruptedten times a second. Impulses of direct current will, therefore, besupplied to relay R at the rate of ten impulses a second. The circuitthrough primary 26 of transformer Z will be interrupted twice for .eachimpulse of current supplied to the relay R, once when front contact 23is opened upon de-energization and again when back contact 24 is openedon energization of the rela'y R. Alternating current of twice the fre-When supplied with cur-' quency of the interruptions of the trackcircuit current is therefore supplied to relays E and F and relay Eholds its front contact 32 closed. p

I will assume that relay F is balanced and therefore remains in thede-energized position closing contact 29, when the track circuit currentis interrupted ten times a second, that contact 28 is closed only wheninterruptions take place fifteen or more times a second, and

that contact 30 is closed only when the in terruptions take place fivetimes or less per second. These values are given simply as examples, itbeing obvious that any suitable rates of interruption may be chosen inpractice.

The impulses of current supplied to relay F due to the interruption ofthe track circuit current ten times a second cause this relay to assumethe de-energized or balanced position, closing the contact 29 andlighting lamp L to give a low speed-indication. If relay E should becomeshort-circuited or should fail to pick-up when the track circuit currentis being interrupted ten times a second, back contact 31 of relay Ewould be closed and lamp S would be lighted to give an absolute stopindication. If arm.

15 of selector X engages contact 8", the track circuit current will-beinterrupted five times a second, relay E will hold its front contact 32closed, and frequency selective relay F will close contact 30 thuslighting lamp M to give a medium speed indication.-

Interruption of the track circuit current fifteen times a second witharm 15 of selector X on contact 10 will close contact 28 of relay F andlight lamp H to give a high speed indication. If relay F should fail tooperate when supplied with current, contact 29 would remain closed tolight lamp L and give a low speed indication. Should relay R fail tooperate, the absolute stop signal would be given since both relays E andF would be de-energized so that contact 31 of relay E would be closed tocomplete the circuit for the lamp S. I

With the apparatus shown in Fig. 2 a decrease in the frequency ofinterruption of the current supplied to the track rails might result ina high or medium speed indication being given when a low speedindication is desired. For example. if conditions were such as torequire a low speed indication and the interrupter device I shouldinterrupt the track circuit at seven times a second instead of tentimes, the frequency selective relay F would tend to close its contact30, and thus to give a medium speed indication when a low speedindication was desired. Such a possibility is remote but it may beavoided by the use of the apparatus shown in Fig. 3.

Referring now to Fig. 3 the governing apparatus is the same as thatshown in Fig. .2 up to and including the transformer Z.

.In circuit with the secondary 27 of transformer Z are two frequencyselective relays,

F and F The relay F is designed to close its front contact when thetrack circuit cur- 5 rent is interrupted either ten or fifteen times asecond, but to remain de-energized when five interruptions a .second aremade. The frequency responsive relay F? is the same as relay F of Fig. 2except that it has two sets of contacts. When relay F is de-energized for when the track circuit current is interrupted ten times asecondcontacts 44 and 49 are closed. When the interruptions occur fifteentimes a second, contacts 46 and 51 are closed and when the interruptionsoccur five times ,a second contacts 47 and 52 are closed.

The apparatus is shown as it would be with' the track apparatus of Fig.1 in the position shown, that is, interrupting v the track circuitcurrent ten times a second. The relay F is energized to close itscontact 40, and contacts 44 and 49 of relay F are closed so, that lamp Mis lighted togive a medium speed indication.

It will now be clear that if the track circuit current is interruptedfifteen times a second, contact 40 of relay F and contact 51 of relay Fwill be closed to light the lamp H and give a high speed indication. If.the

.30 rate of interruption is ten times a second, contact of relay F andcontact 49 of relay F will be closed tolight the lamp M for a mediumspeed indication, and for a rate of interruption of fivetimes a second,contact 3 41 of relay F and contact 47 of relay F will be closed tolight the lamp L and give a low speed indication. The contact 52 ofrelay F? is an additional contact which may be used to give anadditional indica- 40 tion if desired. If track conditions are such thatfifteen interruptions a second are desired and the rate falls slightlybelow that so that relay F does not closeits contact 51 it will tend toclose contact 49 and give a medium speed indication. If the rate ofinterruption is ten times a'second and the frequency drops, relay F willclose contact 41 and relay F will close its contact 47 and thus give alow speed indication. If the .5!) frequency is five times per second anddecircuit of relay F will cause ei-ther a stopor' a low speedindication,.whatever the frequency of-interruption may be.

Although I have herein shown and described only two forms of railwaytraflic controlling apparatus embodying my inven-' tion, it isunderstood that various changes and modifications may be made thereinwithin the scope of the appended claims without departing from thespirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is: I

1. Railway traflic controlling apparatus comprising a stretch of railwaytrack, means for supplying the rails of the stretch with frequencies, atrain carried frequency selective relay, and governing means controlledby the relay.

2. Railway traflic controlling apparatus comprising a section of railwaytrack, a source of track circuit current, means for interrupting thetrack circuit current at dif ferent frequencies depending upon trafiicconditions,' a ,train carried relay, a transformer having its primarycircuit controlled by the relay, a frequency selective relay connectedto the secondary of the transformer, and governing means controlled bythe frequency selectlve relay.

. 3. Railway traffic controlling apparatus comprising a stretch ofrailway track, means for supplying the rails of the stretch withalternating current interrupted at different frequencies, a traincarried relay controlled by current received from the trackway, a.

transformer having 'its primary controlled by the relay, a plurality ofother relays connected with the secondary of the transformer.alternating current interrupted at different" at least one of thembeing frequency selective,

and governing means controlled by the said other relays.

'4. Railway traffic controlling apparatus comprising a stretch ofrailway track, means for supplying the rails of the stretchwithalternating current interruptedat different frequencies, atraincarried relay controlled by current received from the trackway, atansformer having its primary controlled by the relay, :1frequencyselective relay and another relay in circuit with thetransformer secondary, the frequency responsive relay having a plurality'of contacts and the other relay hav ng a front and a back contact, andgoverning means controlled by the frequency responsive relay andarranged to be energized'only when the front contact of the other relayis closed.

5. Railway trafiic controlling,apparatus comprising a stretch of railwaytrack, means for supplying the rails of the stretch with alternatingcurrent interrupted at different frequencies, a train carried relaycontrolled by the contacts of the train carried relay,

frequency selectivemeans connected to the secondary of the transformer,and governing means controlled by the frequency selective means.

6. The combination with a stretch .of railway track, of a train carriedrelay, means partly located in the trackway for at times supplyingalternating current periodically interrupted at different frequencies tothe relay, a transformer having its primary controlled by the traincarried relay," a frequency selective relay and a non-frequencyselective relay in circuit with the secondary of the transformer, thefrequency selective relay having a plurality of contacts and thenonfrequency selective relay having a front and. a back contact, andgoverning means controlled by thecontacts of the frequency selectiverelay and by the contacts of the nonfrequency selective relay.

7. Railway traflic controlling apparatus comprising a stretch ofrailwaytrack, means for supplying the rails of the stretch with alternatingcurrent interrupted at different 11 In combination, a train carriedrelay balanced at a given frequency but selectively responsive tocurrents above and below said given frequency, a second relay responsiveto current of any frequency, means located partfrequencies, a 'traincarried relay, controlled by current received from the trackway, a

transformer having its primary controlled by the relay, two relays incircuit with the secondary of the transformer, one of them beingfrequency selective, and the other being nonfrequency selective, andgoverning means controlled by said relays.

8. The combination with a stretch-0f railway track, of a train -carriedrelay, means partly located in'the trackway for at times supplying,alternating current periodically interrupted at different frequencies tothe relay, a transformer having its primary controlled by the relay, aplurality of frequency -of the transformer, and governing meanscontrolled by the frequen'cy selective relays in accordance with thefrequency of the current supplied to the train carried relay.

10. In combination, a train carried relay balanced at a given frequencybut selectively responsive to currents above and below said givenfrequency, means located partly in the trackway and partly on the trainfor supplying said relay with current of said "given frequency or withcurrent above or below said given frequency, and governing means on thetrain'controlled by said relay.

ly in the trackway and partly-on the train for supplying the relays withcurrent of said given requency or with current above or below said givenfrequency, and governing means on the train controlled by the relays.

12. In combination, a train carried relay balanced at a given frequencybut selectively responsive to currents above and below said givenfrequency, means located partly in the trackway and partly on the trainfor supplying the relay with current of said given frequency or withcurrent above or below said given frequency, a proceed signal energizedwhen current of a frequency above said given frequency is supplied tothe relay, a caution signal energized when current of a frequency belowsaid given frequency is suppliedto the relay and 'a third signalenergized when current of said given frequency is supplied to the relay.1 y

balanced at a given frequency but selectively responsive to currentsabove and below said 13. In combination, a train carried relay givenfrequency, means located partly in the trackway and partly on the trainfor supplying the relay with current of said given'frequency or withcurrent above or below said frequency, a second relay responsive tocurrent of any frequency, a proceed. signal energized when current of afrequency above said given frequency is supplied to the relays, acaution signal energized when current of a frequency below said givenfrequency is supplied to the relays, a third signal energized whencurrent of said iven frequency is supplied to the relays, ant? a stopsignal energized when andonly when said second relay is dcenergized.

14. In combination, a train carried relay balanced at a given frequencybut selectively responsive to currents above and below said givenfrequency, a second relay responsive to currents of said given frequencyand to currents ofa frequency above said given frequency, means locatetfpartly in the trackway and partly on the train for supplying the relays'with currents of said given frequency or with current above orbelow said given fre-- quency and governing means on the traincontrolled by the relays.

15. Railway tratfic controlling apparatus comprising a stretch ofrailway track, means for supplying'the rails of the stretch withalternating current periodically varied at different frequencies, andgoverning means on .a train selectively responsive to the frequency ofsuch variations.

16. Railway trafiic controlling apparatus comprising a stretch ofrailway track, means for supplying the rails of the stretch withalternating current periodically varied at different frequencies, atrain carried relay controlled in accordance with energy received fromthe trackway and operating at afrequency which depends upon thefrequency of different frequencies, a train carried relay controlled bysaid current and operating. at

the frequency of such variations, and governing means controlled by saidrelay in accordance with the frequency of such variations.

18. Railway traffic controlling apparatus comprising a stretch ofrailway track, means for supplying the rails of the stretch withalternating current having its amplitude. varied periodically atdifferent frequencies, and governing means responsive to the frequencyof suchvariations in amplitude.

19. ailway traflic controlling apparatus comprising means for supplyingthe trackway with alternating current of periodically varying am litude,means for varying the fr uencyo such eriodic variations, means on hetrain for 'etecting such variations, and governing means selectivelycontrolled by such detecting means in accordance with the frequency ofsuch variations.

20. Railway traflic controlling apparatus comprising means for supplyingthe trackway with alternating current, means for periodically varyingthe amplitude of said current at different frequenc es, and a plu-'rality of devices on the train selectively responsive to the frequencyof such variations in the amplitude of the current.

Railway traflic controlling apparatus comprising means forsupplying thetrack-- way. with alternating current, means for periodically Varyingthefiamplitude of said current at different frequencies, a first deviceon the train responsive to said current, and two other devicescontrolled by the first device and selectively responsive to thefrequency of such variations in the amplitude of the current.

22. Railway traflic controlling apparatus comprising means for supplyingthe trackway with alternating current, means for periodically varyingthe amplitude of. said current at diflerent frequencies, a device on thetrainresponsive to said current and governmg means controlled by sa1ddevice in accordance with the frequency of the variations in theamplitude of said current.

23. Railway traffic controlling apparatus comprising means for supplyingthe trackway with alternating. current, means for periodically varyingthe amplitude of said current at different frequencies, and trafficgoverning'means selectively res onsive to the frequency of thevariations in -t e amplitude of the current but not responsive to thecurrent itself.

24. Railway tra'lfic controlling apparatus comprising. means forsupplying the track- Way with alternating current, means for at timesperiodically varying the amplitude of said current at one frequency, andfor at other times periodically varying the amplitude of the current ata second frequency, a first relay responsive to such varlationsof onefrequency but not of thesecond, and a secondrelay responsive to suchvariations of the sec-' ond frequency.

In testimony whereof aflix m signature.

GEORGE W. BAU HMAN.

